Temps out of control

[trekie86]

So everything was going fine...famous last words. I have a 5 gallon batch of Northern Brewer's Brickwarmer Red beer at the end of 2 weeks of fermentation. When I first put it into the fermentor and stuck it in the basement, the temps were getting too cold, in the 40s, this ain't no lager. So I thought I was quite clever and moved it upstairs into a spare bedroom where I put an automatic space heater that was set for ambient temperature of 70 degrees F. The space heater was no where near the beer directly and it seemed the beer was fermenting around 67-70, so I was happy with the process.

Fermentation was quite active and it seemed like things were going well. This past weekend I made 2 - 1 Gallon batches of beer. A pale ale and a pumpkin ale, for my wife. I put them up in the same room with blowoff hoses and left them, this was Friday evening. Saturday all appeared to be going well, the pale ale was bubbling nicely and the pumpkin looked like it was ready to start doing some work. These were all extract kits, by the way.

Today I stopped in just to check on it and the space heater had gone crazy. It didn't shut off as it was supposed to. The ambient temperature was at 90 degrees, it was like a sauna. I shut off the space heater and opened the door and left it be, we were on our way out of the house.

After we got home, I went up to check the beer. The pumpkin was pumping some serious krausen through the blow off hose and they were both still bubbling actively. The 5 gallons of red looked like it may have had some bubbles, by the amount of bubbles in the airlock but overall was calm. The thermometers on all of the fermenters are currently reading ~78 degrees, so they definitely went above 80. Am I screwed? Do I have to pitch 7 gallons of beer?

The 1 gallon batches seem to still be fermenting happy, my guess is that I if I leave them long enough, the yeast will clean out the off flavors due to high temps. Do I need to pitch more yeast in the Red to try and clean up the mess of potential off flavors? Should I transfer to a secondary?

 

[flars]

When it looks like fermentation has come to a stand still take your first hydrometer reading. Use the hydro sample for your first taste of each brew.

 

[Darwin18]

The red is likely okay, but I would very much temper your expectations for the pumpkin and pale ale. See how they turn out but next time try to focus on temperature control. If you can actively control the fermentation temperatures your beer will improve in quality and consistency.

 

[trekie86]

When it looks like fermentation has come to a stand still take your first hydrometer reading. Use the hydro sample for your first taste of each brew.

So just leave it? I measured the red the day before my temp disaster and it was 1.020, I'm trying to get it down a little bit more, hence more time sitting in the primary.

 

[trekie86]

The red is likely okay, but I would very much temper your expectations for the pumpkin and pale ale. See how they turn out but next time try to focus on temperature control. If you can actively control the fermentation temperatures your beer will improve in quality and consistency.

I realize that, I had been having very good temperature control for over a week with the space heater. It suddenly stopped working properly, hence my concern. So do you think I should just leave them be?

 

[Darwin18]

Unless you can go back in time, there's not much you can really do except to learn from this for future brews. By blasting the temperatures during the most active phase of fermentation you kicked up yeast activity and growth with the likely detriment of off-flavors. You're looking at a lot esters and fusels. How much and how bad are tough to tell over the Internet, but I would just honestly temper your expectations and see where they end up. The red is likely fine as it has been fermenting for over two weeks and is probably well past the most active phases of fermentation.

 

[hellawaits77]

I'd say just go through with the rest of the process and hope for the best!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Good reading here. AFAIK, temp control is most critical during the....

Exponential growth phase: 1-4 days:

As the yeast comes out of lag phase, it starts to consume the sugars in solution. CO2 is produced, which starts to expel from the airlock and create of surface layer of foam on the beer. The exponential, or logarithmic, phase of yeast growth is now starting. During this phase, the cell count will increase rapidly, and ethanol and flavor compounds will be produced. Airlocks will bubble like crazy within this time frame.

http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

 

[flars]

So just leave it? I measured the red the day before my temp disaster and it was 1.020, I'm trying to get it down a little bit more, hence more time sitting in the primary.

Just leaving it alone is the best for now. Plan to leave these brews in the primary for three weeks. Perhaps with some extra time on the yeast cake some of the off flavors produced will be reduced.

For your next brew try to get the wort down to 60° to 62° before pitching the yeast. For a beer less than around 1.048 - 1.049 original gravity fermenting where the ambient temperature is a steady 60° will not require temperature control. Wort temp may not rise more than 5° unless the amount of yeast was severely overpitched. This will keep your fermentation in the ideal low to mid 60° range. For larger beers a swamp cooler would be advisable.

 

[trekie86]

Just leaving it alone is the best for now. Plan to leave these brews in the primary for three weeks. Perhaps with some extra time on the yeast cake some of the off flavors produced will be reduced.

For your next brew try to get the wort down to 60° to 62° before pitching the yeast. For a beer less than around 1.048 - 1.049 original gravity fermenting where the ambient temperature is a steady 60° will not require temperature control. Wort temp may not rise more than 5° unless the amount of yeast was severely overpitched. This will keep your fermentation in the ideal low to mid 60° range. For larger beers a swamp cooler would be advisable.

The ambient and the actual temperature of the beer was getting well below sixty, that's why I moved it.

 

[trekie86]

Unless you can go back in time, there's not much you can really do except to learn from this for future brews. By blasting the temperatures during the most active phase of fermentation you kicked up yeast activity and growth with the likely detriment of off-flavors. You're looking at a lot esters and fusels.

I understand that, and it was never my intent of blasting the temperatures beyond a happy mid sixty for the beer. The space heater, which had been keeping the temperatures quite controlled went haywire. I think the only thing I can learn from it is get a warmer basement or buy a better space heater. I know temperature control is the most important part of fermentation.

 

[wilserbrewer]

How cold is your basement?
With the heat generated from fermentation, it may not be too cold?

 

[trekie86]

How cold is your basement?
With the heat generated from fermentation, it may not be too cold?

The thermometer on the side of the bucket read 47. According to the vendor Safale S-04 likes mid 60s. I plan on building/buying a shelf to ferment on so the bucket isn't on the concrete floor, but that's all I've got right now.

 

[BigFloyd]

What temp is your spare bedroom normally at without the qwerky space heater?

 

[trekie86]

What temp is your spare bedroom normally at without the qwerky space heater?

Low 60s, we leave the thermostat at 65 in the house but that bedroom is fairly cold, probably around 60

 

[BigFloyd]

Low 60s, we leave the thermostat at 65 in the house but that bedroom is fairly cold, probably around 60

That ambient temp in the spare BR would be perfect for the first 4-5 days of fermenting most ales. After that, warming it up to 68 or so to finish would be good.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Low 60s, we leave the thermostat at 65 in the house but that bedroom is fairly cold, probably around 60

Thats pretty darn good for most ales...as said above you could warm it up a bit after fermentation, but that temp is pretty darn good, I would stop fooling witha space heater, and just let it go in the low sixties.

I had no idea it gets that cold in Texas, 47 in the basement...OMG that's cold!

 

[trekie86]

Thats pretty darn good for most ales...as said above you could warm it up a bit after fermentation, but that temp is pretty darn good, I would stop fooling witha space heater, and just let it go in the low sixties.

I had no idea it gets that cold in Texas, 47 in the basement...OMG that's cold!

I thought it was too cold and I'm in Colorado at about 7000 feet, the cold for the year had just begun.

 

[trekie86]

That ambient temp in the spare BR would be perfect for the first 4-5 days of fermenting most ales. After that, warming it up to 68 or so to finish would be good.

Thanks, I'll just leave it be. I was worried about stalling my fermentation with it being too cold. If it gets cool, I'll just have to leave it longer.

Heck, with my basement temps, I could probably do some lagering this winter

 

[trekie86]

Well I left the batches in for 3 weeks in an attempt to give the yeast time to clean up the mess. I bottled yesterday and the un-carbonated samples tasted great! Hopefully in a few weeks the finished product won't be a complete waste.

 

[Oaney]

Glad to hear the flat beer tasted good after all those temp fluctuations! Yeasties can be pretty hardy beasties, I'll be interested to hear how the finished product comes out, looking forward to an update after conditioning!